This article in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat documents the massive destruction caused by the recent Israeli military operation in the #Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip. It describes how entire residential blocks, medical centers, #UN aid facilities, and water wells were demolished, leaving the camp in ruins.
Testimonies from returning residents like Umm Fadi (أم فادي) and Munir al-Masri (منير المصري) recount how their homes and neighborhoods were completely leveled. They accuse Israel of taking revenge on Jabalia, which has been a center of resistance.
[…] "My son and grandson were martyred during the first incursion into the camp, and now in this new incursion they destroyed our home, and destroyed all the homes of our neighbors. Even the schools were burned and large parts of them were demolished. What happened is they destroyed everything. They completely erased the camp."
[…] "The operation is clear. Its objective and results are clear. They destroyed our homes, water wells, medical clinics and schools - not #Hamas and its capabilities. The occupation even burned down and destroyed #UNRWA headquarters, leaving nothing of it remaining."
Israel claims the operation targeted Hamas' efforts to regroup in the camp. However, residents say Israel destroyed civilian infrastructure like markets and bakeries rather than just Hamas capabilities. But its actions show intent to erase signs of life in Jabalia. One merchant says shops and stalls were deliberately burned down, and another woman says Israel executed her brothers.
With ongoing rescue efforts by civil defense crews to recover bodies from the rubble, the Israeli operation comes across as involving widespread and indiscriminate destruction in the camp, far beyond its stated military targets.
#Israel / How Israel Mastered Information Warfare in Gaza – Foreign Policy
Some might still perceive #Hasbarah (public diplomacy, explaining, or "welcoming") as having a positive connotation, distinct from outright propaganda. However, this has never truly been the case. In reality, it is far more insidious than one might assume.
Israel's extensive use of information warfare tactics during its barbaric war on Gaza has four-pronged strategy, leveraging social media:
Emphasizing the horror of the October 7th Hamas attack to justify retaliation (included distributing graphic images and videos through paid advertising campaigns targeted at Western audiences.)
Discrediting pro-Palestinian voices and narratives while justifying Israel's bombing of Gaza (included labeling criticism as #antisemitic, using dehumanizing language about Palestinians, falsely accusing media/aid workers of ties to Hamas, and lobbying for content takedowns.)
Rallying Israeli public support by promoting its military's destruction of Gaza targets and purported victories over Hamas through psychological warfare campaigns.
[…] In a polarized social media space, every fact has become contested. It seems that for every investigation into an Israeli airstrike or a firefight, there is an alternative framing of events. When an Israeli airstrike most probably hit a convoy of civilians fleeing on an evacuation route, hundreds of pro-Israel users and accounts pretending they were open source investigators worked to shift the focus to videos of an unrelated side-road explosion for which they blamed Hamas. One such tweet was viewed more than 1.1 million times.
#IFJ / Record number of Palestinian journalists’ arbitrarily arrested by Israel
#Israel has significantly increased arrests and detentions of Palestinian journalists since the start of the war in #Gaza in October 2023. As of May 29, 2024, Israel had arrested a record 76 Palestinian journalists since the war began, according to the article.
20 Palestinian journalists are currently being held under administrative detention, which allows indefinite detention without charges or trial based on secret evidence. Amongst them photojournalist Bilal Al Tawil, and prominent journalist Rula Hassanein, whose home was raided.
Palestinian journalist unions accuse Israel of trying to intimidate journalists and control the narrative by arresting those covering the Israeli occupation.
The IFJ condemns Israel's "over-reaching campaign to harass and prosecute Palestinian journalists" and vows to advocate for journalist safety. At least 102 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the Gaza war began, according to IFJ data.
"On Wednesday, the saying was once again trending, this time through what appears to be an #AI -generated image showing a field of refugee tents spelling out "All Eyes On #Rafah". One version of the graphic has been shared more than 38 million times on #Instagram."
#Rafah / Gaza aid deliveries drop by two-thirds since Israel's move into Rafah, UN says
[…] "The amount of food and other aid entering Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring needs, has further shrunk since 7 May," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (#OCHA) said.
#Spain and #Ireland are the largest and most politically influential #EU nations to recognize Palestinian statehood, joining a few other European countries that have already done so.
While largely symbolic, the three nations hope their move will gather momentum and spur more EU countries to follow suit. The #UK, #Australia and some other EU states have indicated they could also recognize Palestinian statehood. However, #France said now is not the right time, while #Germany sided with the #US in rejecting a unilateral approach, insisting dialogue is needed for a two-state solution (the model, the Oslo accords, favored Israel and the status quo at the expense of Palestinian right for self-determination).
[cont’d] #Palestine / Macron Pushes for End to Two-State Solution Delays
Macron called for an end to the "systematic postponement" of implementing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing an independent Palestinian state. He stated this process should involve a "perspective of recognizing the Palestinian State" as part of a constructive dynamic.
The comments came after a phone call between Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Macron appears to be pushing to break the longstanding stalemate and delays in resolving the conflict through the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, as part of a negotiated two-state solution.
[...] The spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said 35 people were killed and dozens others, most of them women and children, were wounded in the attack.
After facing international pressure following last week's International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, Israel is proactively investigating reports of civilian deaths in Rafah following IDF attack in Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah yesterday.
"Details of the incident are still under investigation," claimed Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, Israel's top military prosecutor, at an Israel Bar Association conference.
While the investigation continues, some may view this move as a thinly veiled attempt by Israel to justify its actions and evade accountability for alleged war crimes.
#Gaza / Israelis Attacking Known Aid Worker Locations
[…] Israel’s attack on April 1 on the World Central Kitchen convoy, which killed seven workers, far from being an isolated “mistake,” is just one of at least eight incidents that Human Rights Watch identified in which aid organizations and UN agencies had communicated with Israeli authorities the GPS coordinates of an aid convoy or premises and yet Israeli forces attacked the convoy or shelter without any warning.
[…] In these eight incidents, Israeli forces killed at least 15 people, including 2 children, and injured at least 16 others.
Attack on a Médecins Sans Frontières (#MSF) convoy, November 18, 2023
Attack on a guest house of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (#UNRWA), December 9, 2023
Attack on an MSF shelter, January 8, 2024
Attack on an International Rescue Committee (#IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (#MAP) guest house, January 18, 2024
Attack on an UNRWA convoy, February 5, 2024
Attack on an MSF guest house, February 20, 2024
Attack on a home sheltering an American Near East Refugee Aid Organization (#Anera) employee, March 8, 2024
[…] All EU donors have now resumed their support to the Agency, still in critical financial situation. We have to step up our support; the needs are only growing.
#ICC / Prosecutor asks for arrest warrants for three leading Hamas leaders, as well ass Netanyahu and Galant
[...] The office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday said it was seeking arrest warrants against three leading Hamas militants for their alleged roles in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Watch: ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan explains the charges against top Hamas and Israeli leadership in detail in this excerpt from his interview with @amanpour this morning at The Hague
[cont’d] Hungary says ICC warrant against Israel's Netanyahu 'unacceptable'
[…] "It is wrong to use a court as a political tool, and it should not be forgotten what led to what is happening in Gaza, and that is a ruthless, dishonest and vile terrorist attack on Israel," he said.
How not even ironic coming from a Hungarian official, given their shared passion with Israel for undermining the judiciary and targeting NGOs and civil society. But hey, at least #Israel and #Netanyahu can count on the support of their neo-fascist pals.
#domicide must be recognised as an international crime
The massive, arbitrary destruction of civilian housing in violent conflict should be recognised as a crime under international law, the UN’s independent housing rights expert told the General Assembly today [28 October 2022].
This article in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat documents the massive destruction caused by the recent Israeli military operation in the #Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip. It describes how entire residential blocks, medical centers, #UN aid facilities, and water wells were demolished, leaving the camp in ruins.
Testimonies from returning residents like Umm Fadi (أم فادي) and Munir al-Masri (منير المصري) recount how their homes and neighborhoods were completely leveled. They accuse Israel of taking revenge on Jabalia, which has been a center of resistance.
[…] "My son and grandson were martyred during the first incursion into the camp, and now in this new incursion they destroyed our home, and destroyed all the homes of our neighbors. Even the schools were burned and large parts of them were demolished. What happened is they destroyed everything. They completely erased the camp."
[…] "The operation is clear. Its objective and results are clear. They destroyed our homes, water wells, medical clinics and schools - not #Hamas and its capabilities. The occupation even burned down and destroyed #UNRWA headquarters, leaving nothing of it remaining."
Israel claims the operation targeted Hamas' efforts to regroup in the camp. However, residents say Israel destroyed civilian infrastructure like markets and bakeries rather than just Hamas capabilities. But its actions show intent to erase signs of life in Jabalia. One merchant says shops and stalls were deliberately burned down, and another woman says Israel executed her brothers.
With ongoing rescue efforts by civil defense crews to recover bodies from the rubble, the Israeli operation comes across as involving widespread and indiscriminate destruction in the camp, far beyond its stated military targets.